ReviewRoyal Society open science2025
The adaptability of facultative parthenogenesis and 'multiple embryos per eggcase' as alternative reproductive strategies in Chondrichthyes.
Review in Royal Society open science, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Sexual Size Dimorphism in Rays and Skates (Elasmobranchii: Batoidea).Ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- Two's company: Monozygotic twinning in the small-spotted catshark (Scyliorhinus canicula).Journal of fish biology · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Chondrichthyans (sharks, rays and chimaera) are a fascinating case study through which to examine reproductive biology. While most vertebrate lineages have converged upon either placental viviparity or oviparity, chondrichthyans exhibit unparalleled diversity in reproductive mode and other aspects of reproductive biology. Despite this, our understanding of reproductive variation in this clade remains incomplete. Namely, several 'unusual' reproductive traits have been repeatedly observed in some chondrichthyan taxa, but we have little to no understanding of their adaptive value. Here, I focus on two traits (facultative parthenogenesis and the deposition of multiple embryos with separate yolks within a single eggcase (MEPE)), which theoretically result in exponential increases in fecundity. I discuss the theoretical fitness consequences of these traits, the range of species and eco-evolutionary contexts in which they have been documented and major open questions regarding their prevalence and evolutionary consequences. It appears likely that both facultative parthenogenesis and MEPE are adaptive in at least some chondrichthyan taxa and ecological contexts. However, additional data are needed to determine the true effect of these traits on lifetime fecundity, the frequency with which they occur, potential population-level effects and cues or triggers that might favour switches from 'typical' sexual reproduction to parthenogenesis or MEPE.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.